Help sought to solve Civil War photo mystery

Private Thomas W. Timberlake of Co. G, 2nd Virginia Infantry found this child's portrait on the battlefield of Port Republic, Virginia, between the bodies of a Confederate soldier and a Federal soldier.

Update, 11.00 a.m. ET — This post has been updated with all eight photographs in a larger size below.

The Museum of the Confederacy is appealing for the public's help in identifying the subjects of eight photographs picked up on the battlefields of the Civil War.

The Associated Press reports that the images are being publicized in the hope that a descendant might recognize a facial resemblance or make a connection to the sites where they were found:

Museum officials can only speculate on the children and adults, including soldiers, shown in the photographs. But whether they were sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, or siblings the prospect of identifying each grows dimmer with the passage of time.

Typically they were found by another soldier and handed down through generations. Ultimately an attic would be cleared or a trunk would be emptied and the photo would be given to the museum. Some have been in the museum's possession for 60 years or more.

A Daguerreotype of a woman and two children found in the effects of a soldier identified as Joseph Warren.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

This Ambrotype image of an unidentified woman was found in the effects of a soldier identified as Joseph Warren.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

An Ambrotype photo of an unidentified soldier, who left this image of himself with Mrs. L.M.C. Lee of Corinth, Mississippi, on the eve of the battle of Shiloh. The soldier never reclaimed his image and was presumed to have been killed in battle.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

An Ambrotype photo of an unidentified soldier, who left this image of himself, a woman and two children with Mrs. L.M.C. Lee of Corinth, Mississippi, on the eve of the battle of Shiloh. The soldier never reclaimed his image and was presumed to have been killed in battle.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

A tin-type photograph of an unidentified man. The tintype and a bible with the name of John Brice in it were found in a tent somewhere in North Carolina during the Civil War.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

An Ambrotype photo of an unidentified young militia lieutenant, that was found on a battlefield near Richmond, Virginia, and donated to the Museum of the Confederacy in 1936.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

An Ambrotype image of an unidentified child found by Pvt. Heartwell Kincaid Adams of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, in a haversack he took from the body of a dead Federal soldier at High Bridge a few days before Appomattox.

The Museum of the Confederacy via AP

An Ambrotype image of an unidentified child that was found by Confederate Private Thomas W. Timberlake of Co. G, 2nd Virginia Infantry. Timberlake found this child's portrait on the battlefield of Port Republic, Virginia, between the bodies of a Confederate soldier and a Federal Soldier.

Steve Helber / AP

This Gem daguerreotype locket was found by a soldier in Hampton's cavalry brigade on a battlefield in 1863.